Bollywood’s casting decisions often remain a mystery, many prestigious roles were initially for various actors. In a surprising revelation, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj revealed that Preity was an original option for Zinta Ishqiya (2010), but she moved away from the project. The Region? She was reportedly not confident of Irfan Khan’s commercial appeal as a prominent actor.

Directed by Abhishek Choubey, Ishqiya became a cult classic, with Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi, and Naseeruddin Shah gave a stellar performance. However, the film’s casting went through a major overhaul before hitting the screen.

According to a report by Koimoi, Pankaj Tripathi was initially designed to play the role of Khalujan (eventually Naseeruddin Shah), and Irfan Khan was to play the role of Babban (later played by Arshad Warsi) to Irfan Khan. The female lead, Krishna Verma was earlier offered Preity Zinta, who was allegedly loved the script. However, he was worried about Irfan’s ability to pull the audience commercially, causing him to get out.

Interestingly, Irfan Khan himself did not end Ishqiya, but for a completely different reason. In an interview with News18, director Abhishek Choubey recalled a meeting with Irrfan at a hotel in New York, where the actor realized that the revised version of the script did not take the same side as his character as he initially believed Did

“Irrfan heard the new version of the film and realized that this version was not in favor of his character. This was the first time I realized that he could not do my film, ”Choubey revealed.

This led to a decline between Irfan Khan and Vishal Bhardwaj, who was close partners. Allegedly, Bhardwaj was so upset that he did not talk to Irfan for almost three years.

In an interview with Lallantop, Vishal Bhardwaj indirectly addressed the situation, confirming that a prominent actress refused the film as she did not believe in Irrfan’s business feasibility. Without naming Preity Zinta, he said:

“We did not ask a big actress for Ishqiya as she refused to work with Irfan, as she was not a commercial actor. I got very angry with him and did not talk to him for 2-3 years. I did not take his call. ,

This aligns with reports that suggest that Bhardwaj eventually chose Irfan on Prefan, causing the entire casting reshuffle.

Out of the photo with Preity Zinta, the role eventually went to Vidya Balan, who gave one of her career-defined performances. His bold and layered portrayal of Krishna Verma was widely praised, which proved that the right casting could elevate a film. Ishqiya not only became a box-office success, but also helped to establish learning as a force in Bollywood.